If I can't read it, I won't!

[nachoman]

I don't know how a person who consumed medicinal herbs and spices in the quantities that I did in the '70s could still put a coherent paragraph together. I am indebted to my seminary teacher, Sister Ruth Rodriguez, for insisting that all new students take her college level English class and to my beloved for proof reading everything I type. I highly recommend doing a blog or a How To series here for those who wish to improve themselves in this.

You need to be careful here; after all "ignorance is bliss". Through high school and early college, I felt I was "competent enough" in literature for my intended career path. My university required a senior "grammar" class as a graduation requirement - and it is a good idea. My professor was rather picky, and I learned many of the mistakes that you can catch anywhere. Now I work a job where correct grammar and word choice is *legally* necessary, and my university learnings are definitely coming in handy.

The drawback is, I no quickly spot errors in news articles, government documents (the ballot mentioned previously), things my boss writes... In other words, knowing too much could potentially get be into trouble by rubbing a wrong nerve or internal trouble by simply being obsessive. I try to maintain a "good enough" switch in my head to keep casual emails, Christmas cards, and forum postings from bothering me too much. I've also learned that mixing in a few cliches, intentional misspellings, and local vernacular can make language seem more personal and becoming in the right setting. People would likely get turned off by this forum if it was written in standard "legalese" or in a scientific style.